Case Study: The FLORIDA Channel
Challenge
The FLORIDA Channel (TFC) is a public affairs programming service funded by The Florida Legislature and produced and operated by WFSU-TV. It features programming covering all three branches of state government, and is the state’s primary source for live, unedited coverage of the Governor and Cabinet, the Legislature and the Supreme Court. TFC hired Taproot Creative to redesign, restructure and develop its website from the ground-up shortly before the start of the Florida Legislative Session.
The original TFC website contained an inconsistent page layout, dated design elements and an aesthetic that failed to properly represent the organization’s existing brand identity. The site was not optimized for search engines and failed to pass validation tests or adhere to ADA compliance standards. It also contained, broken links, a dysfunctional search tool and a haphazardly formatted video library. Furthermore, the website lacked an obvious hierarchy of information, which resulted in poorly organized content and forced users to make far too many clicks to access relevant information.
Website visitors were often confused or frustrated by the site’s multiple live video streams, as they had no way of knowing exactly what they were watching or whether the streams were functioning appropriately. The streams also crashed Mac browsers due to the absence of buffering.
The site lacked a content management system (CMS), which required page code to be altered in order to implement any necessary changes or updates. As such, it was especially difficult for TFC staff members to maintain the site with any ease or frequency. Adding items such as “breaking news” proved to be difficult and time-consuming, and the only possible way to make the public aware of schedule changes was by posting notices on Twitter, rather than by updating the site itself.
TFC staff faced challenges with regard to fulfilling public requests for archived footage. Individuals would call the station to request a copy of a recent story without necessarily knowing all of the appropriate information about the piece, and without having completed the necessary form, forcing staff to spend an inordinate amount of time addressing these inquiries.
In addition, each morning, staff performed a time-consuming process of compiling and emailing the daily schedule for its television programming and live streams. They had no way to automate that process, nor were they using any form of email client to distribute the mass messages, putting them at risk of being blacklisted by recipients.
Solution
Taproot Creative began by conducting a thorough evaluation of the website’s existing site map and reviewing each page with TFC’s internal staff to determine whether it contained pertinent information, and if so, where that information belonged in the broader context of the site. As a result of that evaluation, we developed an organized site map that facilitated the logical flow of information.
Then, using assets provided by TFC, we completely redesigned the site to better reflect its existing brand, creating a modern appeal that is not typical of a traditional government website. We incorporated flat, geometric design elements to ensure that the design does not overwhelm or distract from the content. We complemented those elements with a textured background and light drop shadows, while punctuating the surrounding elements with various colors from TFC’s logo to maintain brand consistency.
We constructed the layout of the homepage to ensure that the most important information and features are easily and immediately accessible to the target audience. For example, on the original site, users were required to click multiple times to access a single live feed. On the new site, we placed a “watch now” feed on the homepage, enabling visitors to select the channel they want to watch with one click.
On the backend of the website, we developed a robust content management system, enabling approved staff members to update the site quickly and easily at any time without the need to understand or manipulate complex code. We also built a tool that enables TFC to upload its television and live stream schedules via Excel, which then converts and standardizes the schedules for display on the appropriate sections of the website.
To help enhance usability of the live video streams, we established a method to auto-synch the streams with the daily schedules. This solution ensures that visitors know exactly which of the nine streams are playing live video at any given moment, and what they will be watching prior to clicking on a particular channel.
We created a full catalog of all archived footage with the help of TFC staff in order to address the video library and search tool flaws that existed in the original website. Videos were given proper titles, descriptions, dates and tags, so that when the index was uploaded to the server, it resulted in a comprehensive, searchable video library with logical sorting capabilities.
To help reduce frustration among both internal and external stakeholders surrounding public requests for DVD copies of previous footage, we created an online DVD request form that collects visitor information digitally and sends a notification to the appropriate staff member for processing. The new-and-improved search tool and video library also enables website visitors to find all of the necessary information related to the footage they are requesting, which speeds up the process.
We built the site to fully comply with ADA accessibility standards and conducted quality assurance testing to ensure that it displays properly and consistently across all modern computer platforms and Web browsers. We also optimized the site for search engines by using proper grammar and syntax, incorporating image alt tags and executing other related technical tasks.
We advised TFC to use Vertical Response as the email client to distribute their daily schedules and other email notifications, alleviating them from any concerns about spam violations. We also created a tool that enables staff to import the schedules from the website directly into Vertical Response, saving them invaluable time. To round out this effort, we designed an email template for Vertical Response that matched the look and feel of the new website.
Just prior to launch, we conducted a CMS training session with TFC staff and provided them with a hardcopy step-by-step training manual. We also provided one-week of CMS consulting and support post-launch to help staff become familiar with the process of updating and maintaining their new website.
Results
We completed the redesign in seven weeks and launched the new site in time for the Florida Legislative Session, during which TFC typically receives five times its normal website traffic. Tangible results realized to date include:
- Increased user satisfaction by properly organizing content, reducing the number of clicks necessary to navigate to important information, and stopping the video streams from crashing Mac browsers
- Increased the time spent by users on the site
- Empowered staff to update the website with ease
- Increased worker productivity by significantly reducing staff time spent compiling the daily schedule and addressing calls to the station regarding DVD requests of archived footage
- Significantly improved search engine optimization
- Brought the website into compliance with ADA accessibility standards
- Enhanced brand consistency through the new design and by building the site to display correctly across all modern browsers and platforms
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